2014 Sony World Photography Awards open for entries
The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, organised by the World Photography Organisation, opens for entries today. Professional, amateur, youth and student photographers from across the world can enter their best work for free at www.worldphoto.org.Photographers will compete for a range of cash prizes and the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony. Overall winners will be announced in London on 30 April 2014.
Since its launch in 2007, over 555,000 images from 230 countries have been submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards. Seeking the very best in international contemporary photography, the awards have established themselves as one of the world’s leading photography competitions. The most recent winner of the L’Iris d’Or/ Photographer of the Year title is Norwegian photographer Andrea Gjestvang for a powerful series of portraits of children and youths who survived the July 2011 massacre on the island of Utøya, outside Oslo.
The winner of the 2014 L’Iris d’Or/Photographer of the Year title will be presented with $25,000 (USD) and the Open Photographer of the Year will receive $5,000 (USD). All category winners will receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony and the Student Focus winner will receive new, cutting edge Sony equipment for their university. Winning and shortlisted photographs will also be published in the 2014 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book and exhibited at Somerset House, London.
The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards include the following competitions:
· Professional – 15 categories judged on a series of work
· Open – 10 categories judged on a single image
· Youth – three categories for photographers under 20
· Student Focus – for higher education photography students aged 18-30
The Open and Youth competition will close for entries at 23.59 GMT on Monday 6 January 2014 with the exception of the Professional competition, which will close at 23.59 GMT on Thursday 9 January 2014. A list of categories can be found in the notes to editors.
The brief for the Student Focus competition is to shoot a single image for the front page of a newspaper. The image can be sensationalist or low-key but it must make the viewer want to learn more and draw attention to an issue that has meaning for the photographer. Entries to the Student Focus competition close on 6 December 2013.
The key dates for the 2014 awards are:
· 6 December – Student Focus competition closes
· 6 January – Open and Youth competition close
· 9 January – Professional competition closes
· 4 February – shortlist for Professional, Open and Youth competitions revealed
· 18 February – Student Focus shortlist announced
· 18 March – Open and Youth winners revealed
· 31 March – Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient announced
· 30 April – L’Iris d’Or/Photographer of the Year plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student Focus Photographers of the Year revealed at gala awards ceremony held in London
· 1 May to end of May – 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
